© Darren Carroll/USTA
Aryna Sabalenka routed yet another opponent at the US Open. This time, it was the turn of 13th seed Daria Kasatkina in their fourth-round match on Monday. The second seed completed a 6-1, 6-3 after 75 minutes of play.Kasatkina who’d shown remarkable consistency in getting through her initial rounds at Flushing Meadows wasn’t able to demonstrate her usual game-play against Sabalenka.
The latter picked apart the Russian’s tactics all throughout the match. In fact, Kasatkina didn’t even win a service game across the first set. The lone game she had in that set, came off a break on Sabalenka’s serve, in the third game.The second set was only marginally better for the 26-year-old in that she held her serve for the first time in the match.
In the fifth game of the set, Kasatkina saved a break point en route to clinching a game, with Sabalenka still leading 3-2 with a break. As it turned out, it was the only time she got to retain her serve. The other two games she won in that set came courtesy of service breaks.Kasatkina’s misery came to an end in the ninth game with her being unable to do much on her serve for the final time in the match, and in the…
